All teams must pay attention to their work:  the task, the goal, the things to be done, the agenda items to be crammed into their meetings, the hurried decisions to be made by the group, the deadlines to be met, and so on. But the most effective teams also monitor how well the members are working together and what the current “climate” is within the team. They quickly notice when the team becomes stuck or bogged down or loses energy and enthusiasm. When this occurs, team members stop working the task they are on and turn their attention to the team’s stalled process. Successful teams have learned that the sooner they sort out the human dynamics that are getting in the way of … [Read more...]

You plan to drive your car from Boston to Denver. It’s a long trip so, before departing, you take your vehicle into your local service center for a tune-up. You have them check your tires and battery, top up the oil and brake fluid and take it for a spin on the highway listening for any rattles that should not be rattling. Then, once on your journey when you stop for gas, even if everything seems fine, you do a quick check on how your vehicle is operating. If you don’t perform these maintenance checks, your car may overheat, stall or completely break down somewhere out there on the great plains. At best, you will be delayed. At the worst, you never make it to your … [Read more...]